Cucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to the field of  Cucumis sativus , in particular to a new variety of  Cucumis sativus  designated NUN 52007 CUP plants, seeds and cucumber fruits thereof.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of plant breeding and, morespecifically, to the development of cucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP, alsoreferred to as “NUN 52007”, “NUN 52007 F1”, “NUN 52007 hybrid”, “52007CUP″”. The invention further relates to vegetative reproductions of NUN52007 CUP, methods for in vitro tissue culture of NUN 52007 CUP explantsand also to phenotypic variants of NUN 52007 CUP. The invention furtherrelates to methods of producing fruits of NUN 52007 CUP or of phenotypicvariants of NUN 52007 CUP.

The goal of vegetable breeding is to combine various desirable traits ina single variety/hybrid. Such desirable traits may include greateryield, resistance to insects or pests, tolerance to heat and drought,better agronomic quality, higher nutritional value, growth rate andfruit properties.

Breeding techniques take advantage of a plant's method of pollination.There are two general methods of pollination: a plant self-pollinates ifpollen from one flower is transferred to the same or another flower ofthe same plant or plant variety. A plant cross-pollinates if pollencomes to it from a flower of a different plant variety.

Plants that have been self-pollinated and selected for type over manygenerations become homozygous at almost all gene loci and produce auniform population of true breeding progeny, a homozygous plant. A crossbetween two such homozygous plants of different varieties produces auniform population of hybrid plants that are heterozygous for many geneloci. Conversely, a cross of two plants each heterozygous at a number ofloci produces a population of hybrid plants that differ genetically andare not uniform. The resulting non-uniformity makes performanceunpredictable.

The development of uniform varieties requires the development ofhomozygous inbred plants, the crossing of these inbred plants, and theevaluation of the crosses. Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection areexamples of breeding methods that have been used to develop inbredplants from breeding populations. Those breeding methods combine thegenetic backgrounds from two or more plants or various other broad-basedsources into breeding pools from which new lines are developed byselfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The new lines are evaluatedto determine which of them have commercial potential.

One crop species which has been subject to such breeding programs and isof particular value is the cucumber. Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) isnaturally a diploid (2n=14) outcrossing species, although haploid,doubled-haploid (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,827), and triploid (see,e.g., Sarreb et al. (2002), Plant Cell Tissue, Organ Culture 71:231-235) types have been developed. The two main types of cucumber fruitgrown commercially today in the United States are fresh market (slicing)type and the processing (pickling) type. Varieties and productionmethods are typically adapted to the end use. Slicing cucumbers areoften longer, larger and have darker and thicker skin, whereaspickling/processing cucumbers have a shorter fruit, thinner skin withinterior flesh that make them more amenable to pickling. Seedlessvarieties are generally preferable for both fresh market and forpickling as developing and large seeds are not palatable.

Until the 1960s cucumbers were normally monoecious, e.g., havingseparate male and female flowers on the same plant. Perfect flowers areuncommon in cucumbers. Staminate flowers are typically single and/or inclusters. Pistillate flowers may be solitary or in clusters and areborne on stout peduncles. Gynoecious cucumber plants have now beenidentified in which flowers are exclusively pistillate. These plants aregenerally higher yielding, due at least in part to the presence ofhigher numbers of female flowers. However, growth of gynoecious hybridplants in the field has historically required the addition of plants ofa monoecious line or variety (10-15%) to ensure availability of pollenand setting of fruit with seed. Honey bees are the most commonly usedinsects to pollinate cucumbers in the open field.

Cucumber plants that set fruit parthenocarpically (without pollinationand fertilization) have more recently been available. These plantsproduce seedless fruit unless pollinated. Growth of parthenocarpicvarieties is beneficial in that setting of fruit on these cultivars doesnot produce an inhibiting effect on plant growth, unlike the case offertilized, seeded fruit. The seedless varieties are usually higheryielding and of higher quality due to the lack of seeds. However, growthof these plants requires isolation from seeded cucumbers to avoidpollination and subsequent seeded fruit.

Most of the cucumbers currently used which are processed to pickles andpickle products in the United States are seeded hybrid varieties. Hybridvarieties offer the advantages of easy combination of dominant andrecessive traits, such as disease resistance, from a set of inbredparents, as well as careful control of parentage. The production of F1hybrid cucumber seeds from a pollen parent bearing only male flowers hasbeen reported (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,949).

Many different cucumber cultivars have been produced, and cucumberbreeding efforts have been underway in many parts of the world (see e.g.U.S. Pat. No. 6,765,130). Some breeding objectives include varying thecolor, texture and flavor of the fruit. Minimizing the occurrence ofbitterness in cucumbers is one such example. Other objectives includeoptimizing flesh thickness, solid content (% dry matter), and sugarcontent. Also, breeding programs have focused on developing plants withearlier fruit maturity, more restricted vine growth, improved diseaseresistance or tolerance, and improved adaptability to environmentalconditions.

Advances in biotechnology have also resulted in genetically engineeredcucumber plants with improved traits. For example, cucumbers resistantto CMV have been developed by expression of CMV protein coat genes (seee.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,128). Transgenic plants exhibiting, forexample, other viral resistance traits or high levels of superoxidedismutase have also been reported (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,084,152).

While breeding efforts to date have provided a number of useful cucumbervarieties with beneficial traits, there remains a great need in the artfor new varieties with further improved traits. Such plants wouldbenefit farmers and consumers alike by improving crop yields and/orquality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the invention, a seed of cucumber variety NUN 52007 CUPis provided, wherein a representative sample of said seed has beendeposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43215.

In another aspect the invention provides for a hybrid variety of Cucumissativus called NUN 52007 CUP. The invention also provides for aplurality of seeds of the new variety, plants produced from growing theseeds of the new variety NUN 52007 CUP, and progeny of any of these.Especially, progeny retaining one or more (or all) of the“distinguishing characteristics” or one or more (or all) of the“essential morphological and physiological characteristics” oressentially all physiological and morphological characteristics of NUN52007 CUP referred to herein, are encompassed herein as well as methodsfor producing these.

In one aspect, such progeny have all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of cucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP when grown under thesame environmental conditions. In another aspect such progeny have allthe physiological and morphological characteristics as listed in Table 1as cucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP when measured under the sameenvironmental conditions (i.e. evaluated at significance levels of 1%,5% or 10% significance).

In another aspect a plant of the invention or said progeny plantshas/have 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or more, or all of the following (average)characteristics in addition to 1, 2, 3, 4 or more or all of thedistinguishing characteristics: length of fruit at edible maturity,yellowish blossom end stripes of fruit at edible maturity, spine qualityof fruit at edible maturity, skin color of fruit at edible maturity,tapering of fruit at edible maturity, length of the main stem, firstinternode length of the main stem (also denominated herein as internodelength), leaf length, seed weight, number of nodes from cotyledon leavesto node bearing the first pistillate flower of the main stem (alsodenominated herein as number of nodes to the first pistillate flower).

Further, a cucumber fruit produced on a plant grown from these seeds isprovided. In another embodiment a seedless cucumber fruit produced on aplant grown from these seeds is provided.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, an Essentially DerivedVariety of NUN 52007 CUP having one, two or three physiological and/ormorphological characteristics which are different from those of NUN52007 CUP and which otherwise has all the physiological andmorphological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP, wherein a representativesample of seed of variety NUN 52007 CUP has been deposited underAccession Number NCIMB 43215, is provided.

Further, a vegetatively propagated plant of variety NUN 52007 CUP, or apart thereof, is provided having all the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of NUN 52007 CUP when grown under the same environmentalconditions.

Also a plant part derived from variety NUN 52007 CUP is provided,wherein said plant part is selected from the group consisting of:harvested fruits or parts thereof, pollen, ovules, cells, leaves orparts thereof, petioles, shoots or parts thereof, stems or partsthereof, vines or parts thereof, roots or parts thereof, cuttings,seeds, hypocotyl, cotyledon, flowers or parts thereof scion, cion, stockand rootstock.

Definitions

“Cucumber” refers herein to plants of the species Cucumis sativus.

“Cultivated cucumber” refers to plants of Cucumis sativus i.e.varieties, breeding lines or cultivars of the species C. sativus,cultivated by humans and having good agronomic characteristics;preferably such plants are not “wild plants”, i.e. plants whichgenerally have much poorer yields and poorer agronomic characteristicsthan cultivated plants and e.g. grow naturally in wild populations.“Wild plants” include for example ecotypes, PI (Plant Introduction)lines, landraces or wild accessions or wild relatives of a species.

“Pickling cucumber” refers to cucumbers suitable for processing bypickling in a brine, vinegar, marinade or other solution. Saidprocessing includes allowing the cucumbers to ferment for a period oftime by immersion in an acidic liquid or though lacto-fermentation.Pickled pickling cucumbers are also known as pickles or gherkins.

The terms “cucumber plant designated NUN 52007”, “NUN 52007”, “NUN 52007CUP” or “variety designated NUN 52007” are used interchangeably hereinand refer to a cucumber plant of cucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP,representative seed of which having been deposited under AccessionNumber NCIMB 43215.

As used herein, the term “plant” includes the whole plant or any partsor derivatives thereof, preferably having the same genetic makeup as theplant from which it is obtained, such as plant organs (e.g. harvested ornon-harvested fruits), plant cells, plant protoplasts, plant cell tissuecultures or tissue cultures from which whole plants can be regenerated,plant calli, plant cell clumps, plant transplants, seedlings, hypocotyl,cotyledon, plant cells that are intact in plants, plant clones ormicropropagations, or parts of plants (e.g. harvested tissues ororgans), such as plant cuttings, vegetative propagations, embryos,pollen, ovules, fruits, flowers, leaves, seeds, clonally propagatedplants, roots, stems, vines, root tips, grafts, scions, rootstocks,parts of any of these and the like. Also any developmental stage isincluded, such as seedlings, cuttings prior or after rooting, matureplants or leaves.

“Tissue culture” refers to a composition comprising isolated cells ofthe same or a different type or a collection of such cells organizedinto parts of a plant. Tissue culture of various tissues of cucumber andregeneration of plants therefrom is well known and widely published(see, e.g., Sang-Gu et al. (1988), Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture12: 67-74; Colijn-Hooymans (1994), Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture39: 211-217). Similarly, the skilled person is well-aware how to preparea “cell culture”.

“UPOV descriptors” are the plant variety descriptors described forcucumber in the “Guidelines for the Conduct of Tests for Distinctness,Uniformity and Stability, TG/61/7 (Geneva 2007), as published by UPOV(International Union for the Protection of New Varieties and Plants,available on the world wide web at upov.int) and which can be downloadedfrom the world wide web atupov.int/ underen/publications/tg-rom/tg061/tg_61_7.pdf and is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety.

“USDA descriptors” are the plant variety descriptors for cucumber(Cucumis sativus L.) as published by the US Department of Agriculture,Agricultural Marketing Service, Science and Technology, Plant VarietyProtection Office, Beltsville, Md. 20705 (available on the world wideweb atams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/) and which can be downloaded from the worldwide web at ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3002687.

“RHS” refers to the Royal Horticultural Society of England whichpublishes an official botanical color chart quantitatively identifyingcolors according to a defined numbering system. The chart may bepurchased from Royal Horticulture Society Enterprise Ltd RHS Garden;Wisley, Woking; Surrey GU236QB, UK, e.g., the RHS colour chart: 2007(The Royal Horticultural Society, charity No: 222879, PO Box 313 LondonSW1P2PE; sold by, e.g., TORSO-VERLAG, Obere Grüben 8, D-97877 Wertheim,Article-No.: Art62-00008 EAN-Nr.: 4250193402112).

“Harvested plant material” refers herein to plant parts (e.g. fruitsdetached from the whole plant) which have been collected for furtherstorage and/or further use.

“Harvested seeds” refers to seeds harvested from a line or variety, e.g.produced after self-fertilization or cross-fertilization and collected.

“Internode” refers to a portion of a plant stem between nodes.

“Node” refers to the place on a plant stem where a leaf is attached.

A plant having “all the physiological and morphological characteristics”of a referred-to-plant means a plant having the physiological andmorphological characteristics of the referred-to-plant when grown underthe same environmental conditions; the referred-to-plant can be a plantfrom which it was derived, e.g. the progenitor plant, the parent, therecurrent parent, the plant used for tissue- or cell culture, etc.

A plant having “essentially all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics” of a referred-to-plant means a plant having at least 5(e.g. 6, 7, 8, 9 or all) of the distinguishing physiological andmorphological characteristics (distinguishing characteristics as hereindefined) when grown under the same environmental conditions of thereferred-to-plant (e.g. a plant from which it was derived such as theprogenitor plant, the parent, the recurrent parent, the plant used fortissue- or cell culture, etc.). Alternatively, a plant having“essentially all the physiological and morphological characteristics” ofa referred-to-plant means a plant having all the characteristics aslisted in Table 1 when grown under the same environmental conditions asa referred-to-plant (e.g. a plant from which it was derived such as theprogenitor plant, the parent, the recurrent parent, the plant used fortissue- or cell culture, etc.). In another embodiment, a plant having“essentially all the physiological and morphological characteristics” ofa referred-to-plant means a plant having all but 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 of thecharacteristics as listed in Table 1 when grown under the sameenvironmental conditions as a referred-to-plant (e.g. a plant from whichit was derived such as the progenitor plant, the parent, the recurrentparent, the plant used for tissue- or cell culture, etc.).

For NUN 52007 CUP the distinguishing characteristics are 1) length offruit at edible maturity, 2) yellowish blossom end stripes of fruit atedible maturity, 3) spine quality of fruit at edible maturity, 4)mottling of skin color of fruit at edible maturity, 5) tapering of fruitat edible maturity, 6) length of the main stem, 7) internode length, 8)leaf length, 9) seed weight, and 10) number of nodes to the firstpistillate flower.

In certain embodiments the plant of the invention has all thephysiological and morphological characteristics, except for certaincharacteristics mentioned, e.g. the characteristic(s) derived from aconverted or introduced gene or trait and/or except for thecharacteristics which differ.

Similarity between different plants is defined as the number ofdistinguishing characteristics (or the characteristics as listed inTable 1) that are the same between the two plants that are compared whengrown under the same environmental conditions. Characteristics areconsidered “the same” when the value for a numeric characteristic isevaluated at significance levels of 1%, 5% or 10% significance level, orwhen a non-numeric characteristic is identical, if the plants are grownunder the same conditions.

A plant having one or more “essential physiological and/or morphologicalcharacteristics” or one or more “distinguishing characteristics” refersto a plant having (or retaining) one or more of the characteristicsmentioned in Table 1 when grown under the same environmental conditionsthat distinguish NUN 52007 CUP from the most similar varieties (such asvariety Sprite), such as but not limited to average number of fruits perplant, fruit flavor and texture, maturity, average flower diameter oraverage vine length.

“Distinguishing characteristics” or “distinguishing morphological and/orphysiological characteristics” refers herein the characteristics whichare distinguishing between NUN 52007 CUP and other cucumber varieties,such as EXPEDITION, when grown under the same environmental conditions,especially the following characteristics: 1) length of fruit at ediblematurity of about 13.6 cm, e.g., between 12.9 and 14.3 cm, 2) yellowishblossom end stripes of fruit at edible maturity extending less than ⅓ ofthe fruit length, 3) a fine spine quality of fruit at edible maturity,4) an unmottled skin color of fruit at edible maturity, 5) blunt orrounded ends of fruit at edible maturity, 6) length of the main stem ofabout 209.5 cm, e.g., between 199.0 and 219.9 cm, 7) internode length ofabout 3.5 cm, e.g., between 3.3 and 3.6 cm, 8) leaf length of about 198mm, e.g., between 188 and 208 mm, 9) seed weight in gram per 1000 seedsof about 19.9 gram, e.g. between 18.9 and 20.9 gram, and 10) about 1.07nodes to the first pistillate flower, e.g., between 1.05 and 1.12. Inone aspect, the distinguishing characteristics further include at leastone, two, three or more (or all) of the characteristics listed in Table1.

Thus, a cucumber plant “comprising the distinguishing characteristics ofNUN 52007” refers herein to a cucumber plant which does not differsignificantly from NUN 52007 in characteristics 1) to 5) above. In afurther aspect the cucumber plant further does not differ significantlyfrom NUN 52007 in one or more, or all characteristics 6) to 10) asmentioned above. In yet a further aspect the cucumber plant further doesnot differ in at least one, two, three, four, five or sixcharacteristics selected from the characteristics listed in Table 1. Instill another aspect the cucumber plant does not differ in any of thedistinguishing characteristics 1) to 10) listed above.

The physiological and/or morphological characteristics mentioned aboveare commonly evaluated at significance levels of 1%, 5% or 10% % if theyare numerical, or for identical type if not numerical, when measuredunder the same environmental conditions. For example, a progeny plant ofNUN 52007 CUP may have one or more (or all) of the essentialphysiological and/or morphological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUPlisted in Table 1, as determined at the 5% significance level (i.e.p≤0.05) when grown under the same environmental conditions.

As used herein, the term “variety” or “cultivar” means a plant groupingwithin a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank, whichgrouping, irrespective of whether the conditions for the grant of abreeder's right are fully met, can be defined by the expression of thecharacteristics resulting from a given genotype or combination ofgenotypes, distinguished from any other plant grouping by the expressionof at least one of the said characteristics and considered as a unitwith regard to its suitability for being propagated unchanged.

“Plant line” is for example a breeding line which can be used to developone or more varieties.

“Hybrid variety” or “F1 hybrid” refers to the seeds harvested fromcrossing two inbred (nearly homozygous) parental lines. For example, thefemale parent is pollinated with pollen of the male parent to producehybrid (F1) seeds on the female parent.

“Regeneration” refers to the development of a plant from cell culture ortissue culture or vegetative propagation.

“Vegetative propagation”, “vegetative reproduction” or “clonalpropagation” are used interchangeably herein and mean the method oftaking part of a plant and allowing that plant part to form at leastroots where plant part is, e.g., defined as or derived from (e.g. bycutting of) leaf, pollen, embryo, cotyledon, hypocotyl, cells,protoplasts, meristematic cell, root, root tip, pistil, anther, flower,shoot tip, shoot, stem, fruit, petiole, etc. When a whole plant isregenerated by vegetative propagation, it is also referred to as avegetative propagation.

“Planting” or “planted” refers to seeding (direct sowing) ortransplanting seedlings (plantlets) into a field by machine or hand.

“Selfing” refers to self-pollination of a plant, i.e., the transfer ofpollen from the anther to the stigma of the same plant. “Crossing”refers to the mating of two parent plants.

“Average” refers herein to the arithmetic mean.

“Substantially equivalent” refers to a characteristic that, whencompared, does not show a statistically significant difference (e.g.,p=0.05) from the mean.

“Locus” (plural loci) refers to the specific location of a gene or DNAsequence on a chromosome. A locus may confer a specific trait.

“Allele” refers to one or more alternative forms of a gene locus. All ofthese loci relate to one trait. Sometimes, different alleles can resultin different observable phenotypic traits, such as differentpigmentation. However, many variations at the genetic level result inlittle or no observable variation. If a multicellular organism has twosets of chromosomes, i.e. diploid, these chromosomes are referred to ashomologous chromosomes. Diploid organisms have one copy of each gene(and therefore one allele) on each chromosome. If both alleles are thesame, they are homozygotes. If the alleles are different, they areheterozygotes.

“Genotype” refers to the genetic composition of a cell or organism.

“Maturity” refers to the fruit developmental stage when the fruit hasfully developed (reached its final size), begins to ripen and undergoesripening, during which fruits can be divided into 1, 2, 3 or morematurity stages. Thereafter, fruits become overripe. In particularembodiments “maturity” is defined as the mature stage of fruitdevelopment and optimal time for harvest. In one embodiment a “mature”cucumber is defined as having reached the stage of maturity which willinsure the proper completion of the normal ripening process. Inparticular embodiments, fruit should be harvested at a maturity stagei.e. substantially near maximum sweetness and flavor intensity.

“Harvest maturity” is referred to as the stage at which a cucumber fruitis ripe or ready for harvest or the optimal time to harvest the fruit.In one embodiment, harvest maturity is the stage which allows propercompletion of the normal ripening.

“Yield” means the total weight of all cucumber fruits harvested persurface unit or per plant of a particular line or variety. It isunderstood that “yield” expressed as weight of all cucumber fruitsharvested per hectare can be obtained by multiplying the number ofplants per hectare times the “yield per plant”.

“Marketable yield” means the total weight of all marketable cucumberfruits harvested per hectare of a particular line or variety, i.e.fruits suitable for being sold for fresh consumption, having acceptableshape, moisture etc., and no or very low levels of deficiencies.

“Flavor” refers to the sensory impression of a food or other substance,especially a cucumber fruit or fruit part (fruit flesh) and isdetermined mainly by the chemical senses of taste and smell. Flavor isinfluenced by texture properties and by volatile and/or non-volatilechemical components (organic acids, lipids, carbohydrates, etc.).

The term “traditional breeding techniques” encompasses herein crossing,selfing, selection, double haploid production, embryo rescue, protoplastfusion, marker assisted selection, mutation breeding etc. as known tothe breeder (i.e. methods other than geneticmodification/transformation/transgenic methods), by which, for example,a genetically heritable trait can be transferred from one cucumber lineor variety to another.

“Backcrossing” is a traditional breeding technique used to introduce atrait into a plant line or variety. The plant containing the trait iscalled the donor plant and the plant into which the trait is transferredis called the recurrent parent. An initial cross is made between thedonor parent and the recurrent parent to produce progeny plants. Progenyplants which have the trait are then crossed to the recurrent parent.After several generations of backcrossing and/or selfing the recurrentparent comprises the trait of the donor. The plant generated in this waymay be referred to as a “single trait converted plant”.

“Progeny” as used herein refers to plants derived from a plantdesignated NUN 52007 CUP. Progeny may be derived by regeneration of cellculture or tissue culture or parts of a plant designated NUN 52007 CUPor selfing of a plant designated NUN 52007 CUP or by producing seeds ofa plant designated NUN 52007 CUP. In further embodiments, progeny mayalso encompass plants derived from crossing of at least one plantdesignated NUN 52007 CUP with another cucumber plant of the same oranother variety or (breeding) line, or wild cucumber plants,backcrossing, inserting of a locus into a plant or mutation. A progenyis, e.g., a first generation progeny, i.e. the progeny is directlyderived from, obtained from, obtainable from or derivable from theparent plant by, e.g., traditional breeding methods (selfing and/orcrossing) or regeneration. However, the term “progeny” generallyencompasses further generations such as second, third, fourth, fifth,sixth, seventh or more generations, i.e., generations of plants whichare derived from, obtained from, obtainable from or derivable from theformer generation by, e.g., traditional breeding methods, regenerationor genetic transformation techniques. For example, a second generationprogeny can be produced from a first generation progeny by any of themethods mentioned above.

The terms “gene converted” or “conversion plant” in this context referto cucumber plants which are developed by backcrossing whereinessentially all of the desired morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of parent are recovered in addition to the one or moregenes transferred into the parent via the backcrossing technique or viagenetic engineering. Likewise a “Single Locus Converted (Conversion)Plant” refers to plants which are developed by plant breeding techniquescomprising or consisting of backcrossing, wherein essentially all of thedesired morphological and physiological characteristics of a cucumbervariety are recovered in addition to the characteristics of the singlelocus having been transferred into the variety via the backcrossingtechnique and/or by genetic transformation.

“Transgene” or “chimeric gene” refers to a genetic locus comprising aDNA sequence which has been introduced into the genome of a cucumberplant by transformation. A plant comprising a transgene stablyintegrated into its genome is referred to as “transgenic plant”.

The term “mean” refers to the arithmetic mean of several measurements.The skilled person understands that the appearance of a plant depends tosome extent on the growing conditions of said plant. Thus, the skilledperson will know typical growing conditions for cucumbers describedherein. The mean, if not indicated otherwise within this application,refers to the arithmetic mean of measurements on at least 10 different,randomly selected plants of a variety or line.

“Substantially equivalent” refers to a characteristic that, whencompared, does not show a statistically significant difference (e.g.,p>0.05) from the mean.

The term “about” in relation to a particular value refers to said value+/−5%, i.e. to a range between said value minus 5% of said value andsaid value plus 5% of said value.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a Cucumis sativus variety, referred toas NUN 52007 CUP, which has significant shorter fruit at edible maturity(than check variety EXPEDITION), yellowish blossom end stripes of fruitat edible maturity extending less than ⅓ of the fruit length (ascompared to more than ⅓ of the fruit length of check varietyEXPEDITION), a fine spine quality of fruit at edible maturity (ascompared to a coarse spine quality of check variety EXPEDITION), anunmottled skin color of fruit at edible maturity (as compared to themottled or speckled with yellow skin color of check variety EXPEDITION),blunt or rounded ends of fruit at edible maturity (as compared to thetapered blossom end of check variety EXPEDITION), a significant longermain stem (than check variety EXPEDITION), a significant longer firstinternode of the main stem (than check variety EXPEDITION), significantshorter leafs (than check variety EXPEDITION), lighter seed weightexpressed in gram per 1000 seeds (than check variety EXPEDITION), andsignificant less nodes to the first pistillate flower (than checkvariety EXPEDITION). Also encompassed by the present invention areprogeny or EDVs of NUN 52007 CUP and methods of producing plants inaccordance with the present invention.

A cucumber plant of NUN 52007 CUP differs from the most similarcomparison variety EXPEDITION in one or more characteristics (referredherein to as “distinguishing characteristics” or “distinguishingmorphological and/or physiological characteristics” (or essentialphysiological and/or morphological characteristics) selected from

-   1) NUN 52007 CUP has fruit at edible maturity that is at least 2%,    3%, 4% 5%, or even 6% shorter than the of fruit at edible maturity    of check variety EXPEDITION;-   2) NUN 52007 CUP has yellowish blossom end stripes of fruit at    edible maturity extending less than ⅓ of the fruit length as    compared to more than ⅓ of the fruit length of check variety    EXPEDITION;-   3) NUN 52007 CUP has a fine spine quality of fruit at edible    maturity (as compared to a coarse spine quality of check variety    EXPEDITION;-   4) NUN 52007 CUP has an unmottled skin color of fruit at edible    maturity as compared to a mottled or speckled with yellow skin color    of check variety EXPEDITION;-   5) NUN 52007 CUP has blunt or rounded ends of fruit at edible    maturity as compared to blossom end tapered of check variety    EXPEDITION;-   6) NUN 52007 CUP has a main stem that is at least 10%, 12%, 13%,    14%, 15% or even 15.7% longer than the main stem of EXPEDITION;-   7) NUN 52007 CUP has an internode that is at least 10%, 15% 20%,    26%, 28% or even 28.7% longer than the internode of EXPEDITION;-   8) NUN 52007 CUP has leafs that are at least 4%, 5%, 6% or even 7%    shorter than the leafs of EXPEDITION-   9) NUN 52007 CUP has a seeds that are at least 15%, 20%, 22%, 25%,    28 or even 28.7% lighter (expressed in gram per 1000 seeds) than the    seed weight of EXPEDITION;-   10) NUN 52007 CUP has a number of nodes to the first pistillate    flower that is at least 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 54% or even 54.1% lower    than the number of nodes to the first pistillate flower of    EXPEDITION.

In another embodiment, NUN52007 CUP has a significant lower tubercledensity and significantly thinner petioles than check varietyEXPEDITION, when grown under the same environmental conditions.

In this embodiment, a cucumber plant of NUN52007 CUP differs from thecomparison variety EXPEDITION in one or more of the characteristicsselected from 1) to 10) as defined above and

-   11) NUN 52007 CUP has a tubercle density that is at least 15%, 18%,    20%, 22%, 24% or even 24.8% lower than the tubercle density as    compared to EXPEDITION;-   12) NUN 52007 CUP has a petiole diameter that is at least 10%, 12%,    15%, 16%, 17% or even 17.5% thinner than the petiole diameter of    check variety EXPEDITION.

It is understood that “significant” differences refer to statisticallysignificant differences, when comparing the characteristic between twoplant lines or varieties when grown under the same conditions.Preferably at least about 10, 15, 20 or more plants per line or varietyare grown under the same conditions and characteristics are measured onat least about 10, 15, 20 or more randomly selected plant or plant partsto obtain averages. Thus, physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics or traits are commonly evaluated at a significance levelof 1%, 5% or 10%, when measured in plants grown under the sameenvironmental conditions.

Thus, in one aspect, the invention provides seeds of the cucumbervariety designated NUN 52007 CUP wherein a representative sample ofseeds of said variety was deposited under the Budapest Treaty, withAccession number NCIMB 43215.

Seeds of NUN 52007 CUP are obtainable by crossing the male parent withthe female parent and harvesting the seeds produced on the femaleparent. The resultant NUN 52007 CUP seeds can be grown to produce NUN52007 CUP plants. In one embodiment a plurality of NUN 52007 CUP seedsare packaged into small and/or large containers (e.g., bags, cartons,cans, etc.). The seeds may be treated with various compounds, such asseed coatings or fungicides or insecticides.

Also provided are plants of cucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP, or a fruitor other plant part thereof, produced from seeds, wherein arepresentative sample of said seeds has been deposited under theBudapest Treaty, with Accession Number NCIMB 43215. Also included is acell culture or tissue culture produced from such a plant. It isunderstood that such tissue or cell culture comprising cells orprotoplasts from the plant of the invention can be obtained from a plantpart selected from the group consisting of embryos, meristems,cotyledons, hypocotyl, pollen, leaves, anthers, roots, root tips,pistil, petiole, flower, fruit, seed, stem and stalks. In one embodimenta plant regenerated from such a cell or tissue culture said plantexpressing all the morphological and physiological characteristics ofNUN 52007 CUP.

In one embodiment the invention provides a cucumber plant regeneratedfrom the tissue or cell culture of NUN 52007 CUP, wherein the plant hasall of the physiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 52007CUP as listed in Table 1 when determined at the 5% significance level.In another embodiment, the invention provides a cucumber plantregenerated from the tissue or cell culture of NUN 52007 CUP, whereinthe plant has all of the physiological and morphological characteristicsof NUN 52007 CUP when determined at the 5% significance level.

Plants of NUN 52007 CUP can be produced by seeding directly in theground (e.g., field) or by germinating the seeds in controlledenvironment conditions (e.g., greenhouses) and then transplanting theseedlings into the field. For example by sowing the seed into preparedseed beds where they will remain for the entire production of the crop.Alternatively, the cucumber seed may be planted through black plasticmulch. The dark plastic will absorb heat from the sun, warming the soilearly. It will also help to conserve moisture during the growing season,controls weeds and makes harvesting easier and cleaner. See for exampleworld wide web anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu for cultivation, harvesting,handling and postharvest methods commonly used.

In another aspect, the invention provides for a cucumber plant ofcucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP, a representative sample of seed fromsaid variety has been deposited under the Budapest Treaty, withAccession number NCIMB 43215.

In other aspects, the invention provides for a fruit of cucumber varietyNUN 52007 CUP, or a plant part, such as pollen, flowers, shoots orcuttings of variety NUN 52007 CUP or parts thereof.

In one embodiment any plant of the invention comprises at least 3, 4, 5or more, e.g. 6, 7, 8, 9 or all of the following morphological and/orphysiological characteristics (i.e. distinguishing characteristics(average values; measured at harvest or market maturity, as indicated,when grown under the same environmental conditions):

-   1) a length of fruit at edible maturity of about 13.6 cm, that is    between 12.8 and 14.4 cm, or preferably between 13.2 and 14.0 cm or    even between 13.4 and 13.8 cm;-   2) yellowish blossom end stripes of fruit at edible maturity    extending less than ⅓ of the fruit length;-   3) a fine spine quality of fruit at edible maturity;-   4) an unmottled skin color of fruit at edible maturity;-   5) blunt or rounded ends of fruit at edible maturity;-   6) a length of the main stem of about 209.5 cm, that is between 182    and 237 cm, or between 189 and 230 cm, or between 199 and 220 cm, or    even between 209 and 210 cm;-   7) internode length of about 3.5 cm, that is between 2 and 5 cm, or    between 2.5 and 4.5 cm, or between 3.0 and 4.0 cm, or even between    3.3 and 3.7 cm;-   8) leaf length of about 198 mm, that is between 184 and 212 mm or    between 190 and 206 mm, or between 195 and 201 mm or even between    197 and 199 mm;-   9) seed weight in gram/1000 seeds of about 19.9 gram, that is    between 3 and 27 gram, or between 10 and 20 gram, or between 15 and    25 gram, or even between 19 and 21 gram; and-   10) a number of nodes to the first pistillate flower of about 1.07,    that is between 0.50 and 1.70, or between 0.90 and 1.30, or between    1.00 and 1.20 or even between 1.05 and 1.12;

In a further embodiment, any plant of the invention comprises at least3, 4, 5 or more, e.g. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or all of the morphological and/orphysiological characteristics of the plant of the invention (i.e.distinguishing characteristics 1) to 10) as defined above) and atubercle density of about 7.5 per cm², that is between 5.5 and 9.5 percm², or between 6 and 9 per cm², or even between 7 and 8 per cm² and/ora petiole diameter of about 5.6 mm, that is between 4 and 7, or between4.5 and 6.5, or even between 5 and 6 mm.

In still another aspect the invention provides a method of producing acucumber plant, comprising crossing a plant of cucumber variety NUN52007 CUP with a second cucumber plant one or more times, and selectingprogeny from said crossing.

In yet another aspect the invention provides a method of producing acucumber plant, comprising selfing a plant of cucumber variety NUN 52007CUP one or more times, and selecting progeny from said selfing.

In other aspects, the invention provides for progeny of variety NUN52007 CUP such as progeny obtained by further breeding NUN 52007 CUP.Further breeding NUN 52007 CUP includes selfing NUN 52007 CUP one ormore times and/or cross-pollinating NUN 52007 CUP with another cucumberplant or variety one or more times. In particular, the inventionprovides for progeny that retain all the essential morphological andphysiological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP or that retain one ormore (e.g. 1) to 5) or 1) to 10) or all) of the distinguishingcharacteristics of the cucumber type described further above, or, inanother embodiment, progeny that retain all morphological andphysiological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP as listed in Table 1;when grown under the same environmental conditions, when determined atthe 5% significance level. In another aspect, the invention provides forvegetative reproductions of the variety and plants having all but 1, 2,or 3 of the physiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 52007CUP (e.g. as listed in Table 1).

The morphological and/or physiological differences between plantsaccording to the invention, i.e. NUN 52007 CUP or progeny thereof, orplants having all but 1, 2, or 3 of the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of NUN 52007 CUP (as listed in Table 1); and other knownvarieties can easily be established by growing NUN 52007 CUP next to theother varieties (in the same field, under the same environmentalconditions), preferably in several locations which are suitable for saidcucumber cultivation, and measuring morphological and/or physiologicalcharacteristics of a number of plants (e.g., to calculate an averagevalue and to determine the variation range/uniformity within thevariety). For example, trials can be carried out in Acampo Calif., USA(N 38 degrees 07′261″/W 121 degrees 18′ 807″, USA, whereby maturity,ploidy, plant sex form, leaf shape, leaf color, stem shape, surface andlength, flower size and color, fruit group, mature fruit color, fruitsize, fruit shape, rind texture and thickness, flesh texture and color,disease resistance, insect resistance, can be measured and directlycompared for species of Cucumis.

Morphological and physiological characteristics (and distinguishingcharacteristics) of NUN 52007 CUP, are provided in the Examples, inTable 1. Encompassed herein are also plants derivable from NUN 52007 CUP(e.g. by selfings and/or crossing and/or backcrossing with NUN 52007 CUPand/or progeny thereof) comprising all the physiological andmorphological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP listed in Table 1 asdetermined at the 5% significance level when grown under the sameenvironmental conditions and/or comprising one or more (or all; or allexcept one, two or three) of the distinguishing characteristics asdetermined at the 5% significance level when grown under the sameenvironmental conditions.

Also at-harvest and/or post-harvest characteristics of fruits can becompared, such as cold storage holding quality (browning), post-harvestrind firmness and/or flesh firmness, and juiciness can be measured usingknown methods.

Flesh firmness can for example be measured using a penetrometer, e.g. byinserting a probe into the fruit flesh and determining the insertionforce, or other methods.

The morphological and/or physiological characteristics may vary somewhatwith variation in the environment (such as temperature, light intensity,day length, humidity, soil, fertilizer use), which is why a comparisonunder the same environmental conditions is preferred. Colors can best bemeasured against The Munsell Book of Color (Munsell Color MacbethDivision of Kollmorgan Instruments Corporation) or using the RoyalHorticultural Society Chart (World wide web atrhs.org.uk/Plants/RHS-Publications/RHS-colour-charts).

In a preferred embodiment, the invention provides for cucumber fruits ofvariety NUN 52007 CUP, or a part of the fruit. In another embodiment,the invention provides for a container comprising or consisting of aplurality of harvested cucumber fruits of NUN 52007 CUP, or progenythereof, or a derived variety, such as an EDV.

In yet a further embodiment, the invention provides for a method ofproducing a new cucumber plant. The method comprises crossing a plant ofthe invention NUN 52007 CUP, or a plant comprising all but 1, 2, or 3 ofthe morphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP (aslisted in Table 1), or a progeny plant thereof, either as male or asfemale parent, with a second cucumber plant (or a wild relative ofcucumber) one or more times, and/or selfing a cucumber plant accordingto the invention i.e. NUN 52007 CUP, or a progeny plant thereof, one ormore times, and selecting progeny from said crossing and/or selfing. Thesecond cucumber plant may for example be a line or variety of thespecies C. sativus L., Cucumis hystrix, Cucumis ritchiei (syn.Dicaelospermum ritchiei) or Cucumis maderaspatana (syn. Mukiamaderaspatana).

Progeny are a later generation (of seeds) produced from the first crossof the F1 hybrid with another plant (F2) or with itself (S2), or anyfurther generation produced by crossing and/or selfing (F3, F4, etc.)and/or backcrossing (BC2, BC3, etc.) one or more selected plants of theF2 and/or S2 and/or BC2 generation (or plants of any further generation,e.g. the F3) with another cucumber plant (and/or with a wild relative ofcucumber). Progeny may have all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of cucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP when grown under thesame environmental conditions and/or progeny may have (be selected forhaving) one or more of the distinguishing characteristics of cucumber ofthe invention. Using common breeding methods such as backcrossing orrecurrent selection, one or more specific characteristics may beintroduced into NUN 52007 CUP, to provide or a plant comprising all but1, 2, or 3 or more of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of NUN 52007 CUP (as listed in Table 1)

The invention provides for methods of producing plants which retain allthe morphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP.The invention provides also for methods of producing a plant comprisingall but 1, 2, or 3 or more of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of NUN 52007 CUP (e.g. as listed in Table 1), but whichare still genetically closely related to NUN 52007 CUP. The relatednesscan, for example be determined by fingerprinting techniques (e.g.,making use of isozyme markers and/or molecular markers such as SNPmarkers, AFLP markers, microsatellites, minisatellites, RAPD markers,RFLP markers and others). A plant is “closely related” to NUN 52007 CUPif its DNA fingerprint is at least 80%, 90%, 95% or 98% identical to thefingerprint of NUN 52007 CUP. In a preferred embodiment AFLP markers areused for DNA fingerprinting (Vos et al. 1995, Nucleic Acid Research 23:4407-4414). A closely related plant may have a Jaccard's Similarityindex of at least about 0.8, preferably at least about 0.9, 0.95, 0.98or more (Parvathaneni et al., J. Crop Sci. Biotech. 2011 Mar. 14 (1):39˜43). The invention also provides plants and varieties obtained bythese methods. Plants may be produced by crossing and/or selfing, oralternatively, a plant may simply be identified and selected amongst NUN52007 CUP plants, or progeny thereof, e.g. by identifying a variantwithin NUN 52007 CUP or progeny thereof (e.g. produced by selfing) whichvariant differs from NUN 52007 CUP in one, two or three of themorphological and/or physiological characteristics (e.g. in one, two orthree distinguishing characteristics), e.g. those listed in Table 1 orothers. In one embodiment the invention provides a cucumber plant havinga Jaccard's Similarity index with NUN 52007 CUP of at least 0.8, e.g. atleast 0.85, 0.9, 0.95, 0.98 or even at least 0.99.

By crossing and/or selfing also (one or more) single traits may beintroduced into the variety of the invention i.e. NUN 52007 CUP (e.g.,using backcrossing breeding schemes), while retaining the remainingmorphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP and/orwhile retaining one or more distinguishing characteristics. A singletrait converted plant may thereby be produced. For example, diseaseresistance genes may be introduced, genes responsible for one or morequality traits, yield, etc. Both single genes (dominant or recessive)and one or more QTLs (quantitative trait loci) may be transferred intoNUN 52007 CUP by breeding with NUN 52007 CUP.

Any pest or disease resistance genes may be introduced into a plantaccording to the invention, i.e. NUN 52007 CUP, progeny thereof or intoan EDV of NUN 52007 CUP. Resistance to one or more of the followingdiseases is preferably introduced into plants of the invention: AngularLeaf Spot (Pseudomonas lachrymans), Anthracnose (Race 1), Colletotrichumlagenaria), Anthracnose (Race 2), Bacterial Wilt (Erwiniatracheiphilus), Cucumber Scab (Gummosis) (Cladosporium cucumerinum),Downy Mildew, Powdery Mildew (Erysiphe chicoracearum), Alternaria LeafBlight (Alternaria cucumerina), Target Spot (Corynespora cassiicola),Cucumber Yellow Mottle Mosaic Virus (Cucumis Virus 1), Cucumber GreenMottle Mosaic Virus (Cucumis Virus 2), Cucumber Aucuba Mosaic Virus(Cucumis Virus 2A), Muskmelon Mosaic Virus, Watermelon Mosaic Virus,Papaya Ring Spot Virus, Zucchini Mosaic Virus, Cucumber Rust, Root Rot,Crown Blight, Verticillum Wilt, Sulphur Burn, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.cucumberis (Fom) race 0, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cucumberis (Fom) race1, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cucumberis (Fom) race 2, Fusarium Wilt R2,Root Knot (Nematode), Anthracnose, and Squash Mosaic.

Resistance to one or more of the following pests is preferably presentor introduced into plants of the invention: Aphid resistance, PickleWorm, Darkling Ground Beetle, Banded Cucumber Beetle, Mite, WesternSpotted Cucumber Beetle, Leafhopper, Cucumber Worm, Western StripedCucumber Beetle or Leafminer. Other resistance genes, against pathogenicviruses, fungi, bacteria or pests may also be introduced.

Thus, invention also provides a method for developing a cucumber plantin a cucumber breeding program, using a cucumber plant of the invention,or its parts as a source of plant breeding material. Suitable plantbreeding techniques are recurrent selection, backcrossing, pedigreebreeding, mass selection, mutation breeding and/or genetic markerenhanced selection. For example, in one aspect, the method comprisescrossing NUN 52007 CUP or progeny thereof, or an EDV thereof, with adifferent cucumber plant, and wherein one or more offspring of thecrossing are subject to one or more plant breeding techniques selectedfrom the group consisting of recurrent selection, backcrossing, pedigreebreeding, mass selection, mutation breeding and genetic marker enhancedselection (see e.g. Martin et al. 2008, Australian Journal of CropScience 1(2): 43-46). For breeding methods in general see Principles ofPlant Genetics and Breeding, 2007, George Acquaah, Blackwell Publishing,ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-3646-4.

The invention thus also provides a method of introducing a single locusconversion, or single trait conversion or introducing a desired trait,into a cucumber plant according to the invention and/or into NUN 52007CUP comprising:

-   (a) crossing a cucumber plant of variety NUN 52007 CUP, a    representative sample of seed of said variety having been deposited    under Accession Number NCIMB 43215, with a second cucumber plant    comprising a desired single locus to produce F1 progeny plants;-   (b) selecting F1 progeny plants that have the single locus to    produce selected F1 progeny plants;-   (c) crossing the selected progeny plants with a plant of NUN 52007    CUP, to produce backcross progeny plants;-   (d) selecting backcross progeny plants that have the single locus    and one or more (or all) distinguishing characteristics of cucumbers    according to the invention and/or all the physiological and    morphological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP to produce selected    backcross progeny plants; and-   (e) optionally repeating steps (c) and (d) one or more times in    succession to produce selected second, third or fourth or higher    backcross progeny plants that comprise the single locus and    otherwise one or more (or all) the distinguishing characteristics of    the cucumbers according to the invention and/or comprise all of the    physiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP,    when grown in the same environmental conditions. The invention    further relates to plants obtained by this method.

The above method is provided, wherein the single locus confers a trait,wherein the trait is pest resistance or disease resistance.

In one embodiment the trait is disease resistance and the resistance isconferred to Angular Leaf Spot (Pseudomonas lachrymans), Anthracnose(Race 1), Colletotrichum lagenaria), Anthracnose (Race 2), BacterialWilt (Erwinia tracheiphilus), Cucumber Scab (Gummosis) (Cladosporiumcucumerinum), Downy Mildew, Powdery Mildew (Erysiphe chicoracearum),Alternaria Leaf Blight (Alternaria cucumerina), Target Spot (Corynesporacassiicola), Cucumber Yellow Mottle Mosaic Virus (Cucumis Virus 1),Cucumber Green Mottle Mosaic Virus (Cucumis Virus 2), Cucumber AucubaMosaic Virus (Cucumis Virus 2A), Muskmelon Mosaic Virus, WatermelonMosaic Virus, Papaya Ring Spot Virus, Zucchini Mosaic Virus, CucumberRust, Root Rot, Crown Blight, Verticillum Wilt, Sulphur Burn, Fusariumoxysporum f.sp. cucumberis (Fom) race 0, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.cucumberis (Fom) race 1, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cucumberis (Fom) race2, Fusarium Wilt R2, Root Knot (Nematode), Anthracnose, and SquashMosaic.

In one embodiment the trait is pest resistance and the resistance isconferred to Aphid, Pickle Worm, Darkling Ground Beetle, Banded CucumberBeetle, Mite, Western Spotted Cucumber Beetle, Leafhopper, CucumberWorm, Western Striped Cucumber Beetle or Leafminer.

The invention also provides a cucumber plant comprising at least a firstset of the chromosomes of cucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP, a sample ofseed of said variety having been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB43215; optionally further comprising a single locus conversion, whereinsaid plant has essentially all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of the plant comprising at least a first set of thechromosomes of cucumber NUN 52007 CUP. In another embodiment, thissingle locus conversion confers a trait selected from the groupconsisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance,pest resistance, disease resistance, environmental stress tolerance,modified carbohydrate metabolism and modified protein metabolism.

In one embodiment, NUN 52007 CUP may also be mutated (by e.g.irradiation, chemical mutagenesis, heat treatment, etc.) and mutatedseeds or plants may be selected in order to change one or morecharacteristics of NUN 52007 CUP. Also natural mutants or naturalvariants of NUN 52007 CUP may be identified and used in breeding.Methods such as TILLING and/or EcoTILLING may be applied to cucumberpopulations in order to identify mutants. Similarly, NUN 52007 CUP maybe transformed and regenerated, whereby one or more chimeric genes areintroduced into the variety or into an EDV thereof. Transformation canbe carried out using standard methods, such as Agrobacterium tumefaciensmediated transformation or biolistics, followed by selection of thetransformed cells and regeneration into plants. A desired trait (e.g.genes conferring pest or disease resistance, herbicide, fungicide orinsecticide tolerance, etc.) can be introduced into NUN 52007 CUP, orprogeny thereof, by transforming NUN 52007 CUP or progeny thereof with atransgene that confers the desired trait, wherein the transformed plantretains all the phenotypic and/or morphological and/or physiologicalcharacteristics of NUN 52007 CUP or the progeny thereof and contains thedesired trait.

The invention also provides for progeny of cucumber variety NUN 52007CUP obtained by further breeding with NUN 52007 CUP. In one aspectprogeny are F1 progeny obtained by crossing NUN 52007 CUP with anotherplant or 51 progeny obtained by selfing NUN 52007 CUP. Also encompassedare F2 progeny obtained by selfing the F1 plants. “Further breeding”encompasses traditional breeding (e.g., selfing, crossing,backcrossing), marker assisted breeding, and/or mutation breeding. Inone embodiment, the progeny have one or more (or all) of thedistinguishing characteristics mentioned further above when grown underthe same environmental conditions. In a further embodiment the progenyhave all the physiological and morphological characteristics of varietyNUN 52007 CUP when grown under the same environmental conditions. Inanother embodiment the progeny are EDVs and/or have one, two, or threedistinct traits (qualitative or quantitative) introduced into NUN 52007CUP, while retaining all the other physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of variety NUN 52007 CUP when grown under the sameenvironmental conditions.

The invention also provides a plant having one, two or threephysiological and/or morphological characteristics which are differentfrom those of NUN 52007 CUP and which otherwise has all thephysiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP,wherein a representative sample of seed of variety NUN 52007 CUP hasbeen deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43215. In particular plantswhich differ from NUN 52007 CUP in none, one, two or three of thecharacteristics mentioned in Table 1 are encompassed.

In one aspect, the plant having one, two or three physiological and/ormorphological characteristics which are different from those of NUN52007 CUP and which otherwise has all the physiological andmorphological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP differs from NUN 52007CUP in one, two or three of the distinguishing morphological and/orphysiological characteristics selected from 1) average length of fruitat edible maturity, 2) yellowish blossom end stripes of fruit at ediblematurity, 3) spine quality of fruit at edible maturity, 4) mottling ofskin color of fruit at edible maturity, 5) tapering of fruit at ediblematurity, 6) average length of the main stem, 7) average internodelength, 8) average leaf length, 9) average seed weight, and 10) averagenumber of nodes to the first pistillate flower.

In another embodiment the plant having one, two or three physiologicaland/or morphological characteristics which are different from those ofNUN 52007 CUP and which otherwise has all the physiological andmorphological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP differs from NUN 52007CUP in one, two or three morphological or physiological characteristicother than the “distinguishing morphological and/or physiologicalcharacteristics” (or essential physiological and/or morphologicalcharacteristics) of NUN 52007 CUP selected from: from 1) average lengthof fruit at edible maturity, 2) yellowish blossom end stripes of fruitat edible maturity, 3) spine quality of fruit at edible maturity, 4)mottling of skin color of fruit at edible maturity, 5) tapering of fruitat edible maturity, 6) average length of the main stem, 7) averageinternode length, 8) average leaf length, 9) average seed weight, and10) average number of nodes to the first pistillate flower.

Cucumbers according to the invention, such as the variety NUN 52007 CUP,or its progeny, or a plant having all physiological and/or morphologicalcharacteristics but one, two or three which are different from those ofNUN 52007 CUP, can also be reproduced using vegetative reproductionmethods. Therefore, the invention provides for a method of producingplants, or a part thereof, of variety NUN 52007 CUP, comprisingvegetative propagation of variety NUN 52007 CUP. Vegetative propagationcomprises regenerating a whole plant from a part of variety NUN 52007CUP (or from its progeny or from an EDV of NUN 52007 CUP), such as acutting, a cell culture or a tissue culture.

The invention also provides for a vegetatively propagated plant ofvariety NUN 52007 CUP (or from its progeny or from or a plant having allbut one, two or three physiological and/or morphological characteristicswhich are different from those of NUN 52007 CUP, or a part thereof,having one or more distinguishing characteristics and/or all themorphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP (exceptfor the characteristics differing), when grown under the sameenvironmental conditions.

Parts of NUN 52007 CUP (or of its progeny or of a plant having allphysiological and/or morphological characteristics but one, two or threewhich are different from those of NUN 52007 CUP) encompass any cells,tissues, organs obtainable from the seedlings or plants, such as but notlimited to: cucumber fruits or parts thereof, cuttings, hypocotyl,cotyledon, pollen, scion and the like. Such parts can be stored and/orprocessed further. Encompassed are therefore also food or feed productscomprising one or more of such parts, such as canned, chopped, cooked,roasted, preserved, frozen, dried, pickled, or juiced cucumber fruitfrom NUN 52007 CUP or from progeny thereof, or from a derived variety,such as a plant having all but one, two or three physiological and/ormorphological characteristics which are different from those of NUN52007 CUP.

In one aspect haploid plants and/or double haploid plants of NUN 52007CUP, or an EDV or progeny of any of these, are encompassed herein.Haploid and double haploid (DH) plants can, for example, be produced bycell or tissue culture and chromosome doubling agents and regenerationinto a whole plant. For DH production chromosome doubling may be inducedusing known methods, such as colchicine treatment or the like.

Also provided are plant parts derived from variety NUN 52007 CUP (orfrom its progeny or from a plant having all but one, two or threephysiological and/or morphological characteristics which are differentfrom those of NUN 52007 CUP), or from a vegetatively propagated plant ofNUN 52007 CUP (or from its progeny or from a plant having all but one,two or three physiological and/or morphological characteristics whichare different from those of NUN 52007 CUP), being selected from thegroup consisting of: harvested fruits or parts thereof, pollen, cells,leaves or parts thereof, petioles, cotyledons, hypocotyls, shoots orparts thereof, stems or parts thereof, or vines or parts thereof, rootsor parts thereof, cuttings, or flowers.

In one embodiment, the invention provides for extracts of a plantdescribed herein and compositions comprising or consisting of suchextracts. In a preferred embodiment, the extract consists of orcomprises tissue of a plant described herein or is obtained from suchtissue.

In still yet another aspect, the invention provides a method ofdetermining the genotype of a plant of the invention comprisingdetecting in the genome (e.g., a sample of nucleic acids) of the plantat least a first polymorphism. The method may, in certain embodiments,comprise detecting a plurality of polymorphisms in the genome of theplant, for example by obtaining a sample of nucleic acid from a plantand detecting in said nucleic acids a plurality of polymorphisms. Themethod may further comprise storing the results of the step of detectingthe plurality of polymorphisms on a computer readable medium

The invention also provides for a food or feed product comprising orconsisting of a plant part described herein wherein the plant part canbe identified as a part of the plant of the invention. Preferably, theplant part is a cucumber fruit or part thereof and/or an extract from aplant part described herein. The food or feed product may be fresh orprocessed, e.g., canned, steamed, boiled, fried, blanched and/or frozen,etc.

For example, containers such as cans, boxes, crates, bags, cartons,Modified Atmosphere Packagings, films (e.g. biodegradable films), etc.comprising plant parts of plants (fresh and/or processed) describedherein are also provided herein.

Marketable cucumber fruits are generally sorted by size and qualityafter harvest.

Cucumbers may also be grown for use as rootstocks or scions. Typically,different types of cucumbers are grafted to enhance disease resistance,which is usually conferred by the rootstock, while retaining thehorticultural qualities usually conferred by the scion. It is notuncommon for grafting to occur between cucumber varieties and relatedCucurbit species. Methods of grafting and vegetative propagation arewell-known in the art.

So in one aspect the invention relates to a plant comprising a rootstockor scion of NUN 52007 CUP.

Using methods known in the art like “reverse breeding”, it is possibleto produce parental lines for a hybrid plant such as NUN 52007 CUP;where normally the hybrid is produced from the parental lines. Suchmethods are based on the segregation of individual alleles in the sporesproduced by a desired plant and/or in the progeny derived from theself-pollination of that desired plant, and on the subsequentidentification of suitable progeny plants in one generation, or in alimited number of inbred cycles. Such a method is known fromWO2014076249 or from Wijnker et al, Nature Protocols Volume: 9, Pages:761-772 (2014) DOI: doi:10.1038/nprot.2014.049, which are enclosed byreference. Such method for producing parental lines for a hybridorganism, comprises the steps of: a) defining a set of genetic markersthat are present in a heterozygous form (H) in a partially heterozygousstarting organism; b) producing doubled haploid lines from spores of thestarting organism: c) genetically characterizing the doubled haploidlines thus obtained for the said set of genetic markers to determinewhether they are present in a first homozygous form (A) or in a secondhomozygous form (B); d) selecting at least one pair of doubled haploidlines that have complementary alleles for at least a subset of thegenetic markers, wherein each member of the pair is suitable as aparental line for a hybrid organism.

Thus in one aspect, the invention relates to a method of producing acombination of parental lines of a plant of the invention (NUN 52007CUP) comprising the step of making double haploid cells from haploidcells from the plant of the invention (NUN 52007 CUP) or a seed of thatplant; and optionally crossing these parental lines to produce andcollect seeds. In another aspect, the invention relates to a combinationof parental lines produced by this method. In still another aspect saidcombination of parental lines can be used to produce a seed or plant ofNUN 52007 CUP when these parental lines are crossed. In still anotheraspect, the invention relates to a combination of parental lines fromwhich a seed or plant having all but one, two or three physiologicaland/or morphological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP can be produced;or in another aspect, wherein a seed or plant having the distinguishingcharacteristics 1)-5) or 1)-10) of NUN 52007 CUP, as herein defined, canbe produced when grown under the same environmental conditions. In stillanother aspect, the invention relates to a combination of parental linesfrom which a seed or plant having all the characteristics of NUN 52007CUP as defined in Table 1 can be produced when grown under the sameconditions.

All documents (e.g., patent publications) are herein incorporated byreference in their entirety.

CITED REFERENCES

-   Acquaah, Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding, 2007, Blackwell    Publishing, ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-3646-4-   Colijn-Hooymans (1994), Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 39:    211-217-   http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3002687-   http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/RHS-Publications/RHS-colour-charts-   http://www.upov.int/en/publications/tg-rom/tg061/tg_61_7.pdf-   Martin et al. 2008, Australian Journal of Crop Science 1(2): 43-46-   Pisanu et al. ISHS 2004, Acta Hort. 660-   Sang-Gu et al. (1988), Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 12:    67-74-   Sarreb et al. (2002), Plant Cell Tissue, Organ Culture 71: 231-235-   U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,949-   U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,128-   U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,827-   U.S. Pat. No. 6,084,152-   U.S. Pat. No. 6,765,130-   WO2014076249-   Vos et al. 1995, Nucleic Acid Research 23: 4407-4414-   Nature Protocols Volume: 9, Pages: 761-772 (2014) DOI:    doi:10.1038/nprot.2014.049

EXAMPLES Development of NUN 52007 CUP

The hybrid NUN 52007 CUP was developed from a male and femaleproprietary inbred line of Nunhems. The female and male parents werecrossed to produce hybrid (F1) seeds of NUN 52007 CUP. The seeds of NUN52007 CUP can be grown to produce hybrid plants and parts thereof (e.g.cucumber fruit). The hybrid NUN 52007 CUP can be propagated by seeds orvegetative.

The hybrid variety is uniform and genetically stable. This has beenestablished through evaluation of horticultural characteristics. Severalhybrid seed production events resulted in no observable deviation ingenetic stability. Coupled with the confirmation of genetic stability ofthe female and male parents the Applicant concluded that NUN 52007 CUPis uniform and stable.

Deposit Information

A total of 2500 seeds of the hybrid variety NUN 52007 CUP were depositedaccording to the Budapest Treaty by Nunhems B.V. on Sep. 24, 2018, atthe NCIMB Ltd., Ferguson Building, Craibstone Estate, Bucksburn,Aberdeen AB21 9YA, United Kingdom (NCIMB). The deposit has been assignedAccession Number NCIMB 43215. A deposit of NUN 52007 CUP and of the maleand female parent line is also maintained at Nunhems B.V. Access to thedeposit will be available during the pendency of this application topersons determined by the Director of the U.S. Patent Office to beentitled thereto upon request. Subject to 37 C.F.R. § 1.808(b), allrestrictions imposed by the depositor on the availability to the publicof the deposited material will be irrevocably removed upon the grantingof the patent. The deposit will be maintained for a period of 30 years,or 5 years after the most recent request, or for the enforceable life ofthe patent whichever is longer, and will be replaced if it ever becomesnonviable during that period. Applicant does not waive any rightsgranted under this patent on this application or under the Plant VarietyProtection Act (7 USC 2321 et seq.).

“USDA descriptors” are the plant variety descriptors for cucumber(Cucumis sativus L.)—Exhibit C of the U.S. Department of Agriculture,Agricultural Marketing Service, Science and Technology, Plant VarietyProtection Office, Beltsville, Md. 20705, which can be downloaded fromthe world wide web at .ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3002687 and which is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety.

The most similar variety to NUN 52007 CUP is EXPEDITION a commercialvariety from Seminis Vegetable Seeds, Inc, 800 North Lindbergh Blvd-St.Louis, Mo. 63167. In Table 1 a comparison between NUN 52007 CUP andEXPEDITION is shown based on a trial in the USA. Trial location: AcampoCalif. USA, (coordinates: 38.192873° N, −121.232637° W), USA 2013.Planting date: Jul. 22, 2014.

Two replications of 50 plants each, from which 15 plants or plant partswere randomly selected to measure characteristics. In Table 1 the USDAdescriptors of NUN 52007 CUP (this application) and reference EXPEDITION(commercial variety) are summarized. In Table 2, additional descriptorsof NUN 52007 CUP and reference EXPEDITION are summarized.

TABLE 1 Comparison Physiological and/or morphological NUN Varietycharacteristics 52007 “EXPEDITION” 1. TYPE Predominate Usage (1 =slicing; 2 = 2 2 pickling) Predominate Culture (1 = outdoor; 2 = 1 1indoor) Area of best adaptation (USA) 3 3 (1 = north; 2 = south; 3 =most areas) 2. MATURITY Days From Seeding To Market 52 52 3. PLANT Habit(1 = bush; 2 = semi-bush; 3 = vine) 3 3 Growth (1 = determinate; 2 =indeterminate) 3 3 Sex (1 = Andromonoecious, 2 = 3 3 Monoecious, 3 =Primarily Gynoecious, 4 = 100% Gynoecious Flower color 1 1 (1 = yellow;2 = orange; 3 = green; 4 = other) Color Chart Name RHS RHS Color ChartValue Yellow Yellow 12B 12A 4. MAIN STEM Length in cm 209.5 181.0 Numbernodes from cotyledon leaves to 1.1 2.3 node bearing the first pistillateflower Internode length in cm 3.5 2.0 Stem form (1 = groved, ridged; 2 =1 1 smooth, round) 5. LEAF Length in mm 198 213 Width in mm 198.5 205.3Petiole length in mm 23.3 25.2 6. FRUIT AT EDIBLE MATURITY Length in cm13.6 14.4 Diameter at medial in cm 4.5 4.8 Weight in g 151.2 174.3 Skincolor (1 = not mottled; 2 = mottled or 1 2 speckled with yellow)Yellowish blossomed end stripes 2 3 (1 = absent; 2 = extend less than ⅓of fruit length; 3 = extend more than ⅓ of fruit length) Predominantcolor at stem end (1 = white; 4 3 2 = light green; 3 = medium green; 4 =dark green) Color Chart Name RHS RHS Color Chart Value Green Green 139A137A Predominant color at blossom end (1 = 2 2 white; 2 = light green; 3= medium green; 4 = dark green) Color Chart Name RHS RHS Color ChartValue Green Green Yellow White 1D 157A Fruit neck shape (1 = not necked;2 = 1 1 necked) Fruit tapering 4 3 (1 = both ends tapered; 4 = endsblunt or rounded) Stem end cross section 1 1 (1 = circular; 2 =triangular; 3 = square) Medial cross section 2 2 (1 = circular; 2 =triangular; 3 = square) Blossom end cross section 2 2 (1 = circular; 2 =triangular; 3 = square) Skin Thickness (1 = thick; 2 = thin) 1 1 SkinRibs (1 = not ribbed; 2 = ribbed) 1 1 Skin toughness (1 = tough; 2 =tender) 2 2 Skin luster (1 = dull; 2 = glossy) 1 1 Spine color (1 =white; 2 = black) 1 1 Spine quality (1 = coarse; 2 = fine) 2 1 Spinedensity (1 = few; 2 = many) 2 2 Tubercles (warts) 4 4 (1 = few, obscure;2 = many, obscure; 3 = few, prominent; 4 = many, prominent) Flavor (1 =bitterfree; 2 = bitter) n.r. n.r. 7. FRUIT AT MATURE STAGE (harvestmaturity) Length in cm 20.5 20.7 Diameter at medial in cm 7.6 7.2 Color(1 = white; 2 = cream; 3 = yellow; 3 3 4 = orange; 5 = brown; 6 = red)Color Chart Name RHS RHS Color Chart Value Yellow Yellow 10C 4D Colorpattern (1 = not striped; 2 = striped) 1 1 Surface (1 = smooth; 2 =rough) 1 1 Netting (1 = slight or none; 2 = heavy) 1 1 Fruit set (1 =parthenocarpically; 2 = 2 2 normally with seeds) 8. Seeds No. per Fruit162.8 185.3 Gram per 1,000 19.9 27.9These are typical values. Values may vary due to environment. Othervalues that are substantially equivalent are also within the scope ofthe invention. N.A.=not applicable; n.r.=not recorded.

TABLE 2 Comparison Physiological and/or morphological NUN Varietycharacteristics 52007 “EXPEDITION” 5. LEAF Petiole diameter in mm 5.66.7 6. FRUIT AT EDIBLE MATURITY Peduncle length in mm 42.0 42.1 Tubercledensity number per cm² 7.5 9.9 7. FRUIT AT MATURE STAGE (harvestmaturity) Weight in gram 641.7 595.9These are typical values. Values may vary due to environment. Othervalues that are substantially equivalent are also within the scope ofthe invention.

Pickling cucumber is harvested at a size of about 5 inches, which isalso referred to as edible maturity. The mature stage, also referred toas seed stage shows the genetic potential of a variety.

Tubercle density was measured manually by placing a cardboard templatewith a 2 cm square cut out in the center. The number of tubercles withinthe square was counted on area with the highest tubercle density of thestem end of the edible fruit.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A plant, plant part or seed of cucumbervariety NUN 52007 CUP, wherein a representative sample of said seed hasbeen deposited under Accession Number NCIMB
 43215. 2. A plant grown fromthe seed of claim
 1. 3. A part of the plant of claim 2, wherein the partis a leaf, stem, an ovule, fruit flesh, fruit skin, a scion, a root, arootstock, cutting, flower or a part of any of these or a cell, saidplant part or cell being a part of cucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP.
 4. Atissue or cell culture of regenerable cells of the plant or seed ofclaim 1, said cells being of cucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP and suitablefor regeneration into a plant having all of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of NUN 52007 CUP.
 5. The tissue or cellculture according to claim 4, comprising cells or protoplasts from aplant part, wherein the plant part is embryos from which a plant of NUN52007 CUP can be grown, meristems, cotyledons, hypocotyl, leaves,anthers, roots, root tips, pistil, petiole, flower, fruit flesh, fruitskin, stem or stalks.
 6. A cucumber plant regenerated from the tissue orcell culture of claim 4, wherein the plant has all of the physiologicaland morphological characteristics of cucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP whengrown under the same environmental conditions, wherein a representativesample of said seed has been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB43215.
 7. A method of producing of the plant of claim 2, or a partthereof, said method comprising vegetative propagation of cucumbervariety NUN 52007 CUP, wherein a representative sample of said seed hasbeen deposited under Accession Number NCIMB
 43215. 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein said vegetative propagation comprises regenerating awhole plant from a part of cucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP, wherein arepresentative sample of said seed has been deposited under AccessionNumber NCIMB
 43215. 9. The method of claim 7, wherein said part is acutting, a cell culture or a tissue culture.
 10. A vegetative propagatedplant of claim 2, or a part thereof, wherein the plant has all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of the plant of claim 2when grown under the same environmental conditions.
 11. A method ofproducing a cucumber plant, said method comprising crossing the plant ofclaim 2 with a second cucumber plant one or more times, and selectingprogeny from said crossing and optionally allowing the progeny to formseed.
 12. A food or feed product comprising the plant part of claim 3.13. A single locus converted plant, wherein said plant has all or allbut one of the morphological and physiological characteristics ofcucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP, wherein a representative sample of seedof said variety has been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43215when grown under the same environmental conditions, optionally whereinthe single locus conversion confers a trait selected from the groupconsisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance,pest resistance, disease resistance, environmental stress tolerance. 14.A plant comprising the scion or rootstock of claim
 3. 15. A method ofmaking doubled haploids of cucumber variety NUN 52007 CUP, wherein arepresentative sample of said seed has been deposited under AccessionNumber NCIMB 43215 said method comprising the step of making doublehaploid cells from haploid cells from NUN 52007 CUP or a seed of claim1.